Saudi extends bidding window for 3GW battery-storage package

Saudi Arabia has extended the deadline for bids on its second group of six large battery-storage projects, a 3-gigawatt package being procured by the Saudi Power Procurement Company. Each site is designed to deliver 500 megawatts for four hours—the more intuitive total is 12 gigawatt-hours—so the batteries can absorb electricity when supply is plentiful and return it during peak demand or lulls in solar and wind output. The winning developers will build, own and operate the assets, selling storage services back to the state buyer rather than electricity from a power plant. The deadline change keeps the program in the bidding stage, but it does not alter its scale: it is a key part of building a grid that can handle Saudi Arabia’s planned expansion of renewables.